When you’re jockeying for playoff position and fighting for the right to host a post-season game, it never hurts to upset a team in front of you in the standings.
It helps when your top players have extra reason to win.
For Anthony McIntosh and Dwayne Harvey, Saturday’s contest against the Western Mustangs could be their final home game in a Lakehead Thunderwolves jersey.
That fate remains to be determined, though it’s looking more and more likely with just two regular-season games remaining on the 2014-15 schedule.
“I wanted it a lot,” said McIntosh, who keyed the Wolves 67-58 triumph with an 18-point performance, punctuated by three blocked shots and a pair of steals, an all-out hustle performance by the fifth-year veteran.
“It’s been a long six years here and we had a lot of people coming out to support us. We had to win this game to put us in a better position in the standings as well. I’m glad for what we did and hopefully we can continue this same effort.”
Fellow graduating senior Dwayne Harvey said it wasn’t hard to see how badly McIntosh wanted the victory, former teammates Yoosrie Salhia and Greg Carter in the stands for his possible Thunder Bay finale.
“I guess it’s senior night, he had more motivation and he wanted to win. So he went out there and played hard,” said Harvey, who finished a point and a rebound shy of a double-double.
“What a way to go out,” said Lakehead coach Manny Furtado. “It was senior’s night and he stepped up. He was 10-11 from the free-throw line, some boards, some dunks. He was just all over the place making plays.”
McIntosh was at his finest in the late third and early fourth, hitting six straight free throws to singlehandedly turn a one-point deficit into a five-point lead.
“And I don’t even know how many blocks he had – four or five – down the stretch. We need that. And we need that every day from our posts,” the rookie coach added.
That’s about all the praise Furtado had to offer about his team, which trailed by seven after one quarter, but cut its deficit to one at the half, Ashaunti Hogan hitting the buzzer-beating three to end the second quarter.
Despite owning the glass, doubling the Mustangs rebound count 44-22, including a 17-4 edge in the offensive zone, Furtado said the Wolves made 20 turnovers, far too many this late in the season.
“It’s almost like a wash, it’s almost even,” Furtado said, adding his team has to learn to play a full game.
“It was great that we did rebound … but if you look at the end of the game, what did we do? We gave up three or four second-chance points. For us it’s got to be 40 minutes. We did it for maybe 35.”
Harvey said the Thunderwolves goal is to have a chance to win at the end of every game. The improvement is coming, though he’s not sure the team has hit its peak just yet.
“Were getting there every game, but we haven’t hit a game yet where everyone is on par as a unit. So I think once we do that, we’re going to be a tough team because we have three people who play well on one night and it could be three people who play well on a another night,” Harvey said.
“But we haven’t had a game where our whole team plays well.”
Lakehead held Greg Morrow, the OUA’s second-leading scorer at 22.4 points a night, to just 17, thanks to Alex Robichaud’s tenacious defence.
Robichaud finished with 10 points for the Thunderwolves.
Beyond the arc: Lakehead also honoured retiring forward Ryan Thomson before the game. Thomson hasn't played since injuring his knee against McMaster in the OUA playofs in 2013.
